Paper ID #12430Promoting Metacognition through Writing Exercises in Chemical Engineer-ingDr. Mariajose Castellanos, University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyDr. Joshua A Enszer, University of Maryland, Baltimore County Page 26.1276.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2015 Promoting Metacognition through Writing Exercises in Chemical EngineeringAbstractA high-level goal of all disciplines is for students to develop the capacity for lifelong learning. Todevelop the capacity of lifelong
or design of posters. Pairs then translate their mock-ups onto the board for their peers, and the class discusses common components and key differences between designs before establishing a new “best mock-up” together. This guides discussion of why certain components are necessary for the poster, why they are arranged where they are, what else needs to be considered, and how a different prompt may result in a different poster. The final outcome is a general set of guidelines for poster design that the students developed themselves, with mediation from the instructor. • Proposal Writing—students are given a topic on which to write a proposal and asked to develop a proposal outline. They
presentation. As the capstonelaboratory fulfills a university writing requirement, students must submit a draft of their writtenreport and have it reviewed by an instructor before turning in a final report.In general, the course that used the systems described in the next section was graded out of apossible 3300-3500 grade points, in which 2700 were from the three reports, 300 were fromstudent pre-laboratory reports, and 300 were from peer assessments. A few other assignments,such as graded presentation abstracts and a written report draft completeness score, were added Page 26.888.3to later offerings of the course.The game structure originally
research haselucidated that such homework intensive courses do not benefit learning of all students. Effortsto shift student practice from individual homework assignments to group problems-solvinglearning communities [3] benefits different style of learners. Bernold surveyed engineeringstudents and classified them into “why” learners (14%), “what” learners (21%), “how” learners(49%), and “what-if” learners (19%) [3]. The research further determined that many lecture andhomework intensive courses tend to “weed out” students who prefer to think “outside” the box,and favor students who excel at solving small rote problems. Small learning communities enablepeer-to-peer communication of concepts to benefit a broader spectrum of learners
determine thereaction rate constant.Homework: After this project’s first lab period, teams write a one-page memo with a designschematic, circuit diagram, and parts list, with all costs. After the following week’s calibrationand data collection, teams write a short memo with an introduction, methods, results andconclusion section. Individual students complete a homework using an online simulation todetermine an unknown reaction’s order and rate constant, as they will with the data theycollected as a team.Process vs. Product Design for a Drug Delivery System (Weeks 5 & 6):Purpose: Students learn the difference between process and product design. They becomefamiliar with fittings, pumps, and piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&ID). They
production, CO2 emissions, and the liquidwaste that the plant produces). This allows the students to have practical experience on sometopics such as thermodynamic cycles, measurements of composition at the site plant, knowingactual equipment of pumps, pipelines, and so on.The paper describes the innovative elements added to the PBL teaching strategy in order toconnect all these issues. It also presents some of the research results, such as the engagementthat is achieved by students, which lead them to the writing and publishing of papers with theirown ideas. We are dealing with a new generation of engineers who are used to seeing, touching,and having first-hand experience more than they did ten years ago. They are highly motivatedwith the things
results from the past three years of SBL activities, will be presented. Studio-Based Learning Studio-based learning (SBL) techniques have been used in a variety of disciplines, most notably in architectural education. 2 The technique is rooted in a type of constructivist learning theory called sociocultural constructivism. 3 The SBL approach typically encompasses four key steps (see Figure 1). 4 First, students are given meaningful problems for which they have to construct solutions. Second, students present theirConstruct Present solutions to the entire class for discussion and feedback. Third, students’ peers
classes and meetings more when they received Bragging Points that in earliersemesters without them, and the faculty felt greater pressure to be on time to class, too! Ananalysis of the correlation of grades with Bragging Points earned and compliance with courseexpectations will be presented in this paper.IntroductionLaboratory courses are a dreaded part of the chemical engineering curriculum for both facultyand students. Students see long hours working with a team of peers that they may or may notlike, gathering data, analyzing data, and writing “endless” summary reports of their findings.Faculty see the long hours making sure the equipment works, training TAs and students to usethe equipment, repeating safety rules on a daily basis, and helping
study at their own pace outside of the classroom or can beused to supplement lessons in the classroom. In addition, online videos are a useful referencematerial that students can review as needed later in their careers. Videos have also been used to demonstrate a wide variety of experiments and techniques.For example, the Harvard BioVisions series includes videos on aseptic technique and DNAmicroarray experiments.6 Several excellent experiment videos are also available on videosharing websites like Vimeo and YouTube (e.g. purification of green fluorescent protein byhydrophobic interaction chromatography11). The largest library of video experiments is providedby the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JOVE), a peer-reviewed online
referencing, and the consultation of resources.Critical discussion and thinking is encouraged during these courses and students write essays onthese different topics.Math and science courses: These courses provide students with a strong foundation in basicareas and provide the necessary background for the engineering courses to be taken later in thecurriculum. These courses constitute the enabling subjects of any curriculum, in the layout byArmstrong 6 in his proposal for a new Chemical Engineering curriculum for the futureEngineering fundamentals courses: This curricular component provides both a strong foundationof scientific and technical knowledge, as well as tools and methods applicable in actualengineering practice. Currently, this component